Sedecim
by shirleytemplar
Summary: Before Desmond Miles entered her life, Lucy Stillman watched sixteen test subjects experience the Animus and its side-effects, but none shook her quite as hard as the last. Rated for language, violence and adult themes.


Some time later when she relayed the story to Rebecca, Lucy realized that the entire thing had begun as a normal day.

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><p><strong>DAY 1: APRIL 27<strong>**TH****, 2011**

Lucy Stillman's alarm went off at 6 AM and she was out of bed by 6:03. She changed and went for a run before returning to shower at 7, contemplating what was certain to be an exceptionally dull day. Following that, she was dressed, fed, caffeinated and out the door by 8 o'clock. Work didn't start until 9 but she felt like going in early to get some stuff done. The Animus needed a check up and she had gone home early the previous evening without doing the proper paperwork.

At 9:06, Warren Vidic rolled into the lab with his coffee cup to condescend to her for a few minutes before taking a seat at his desk. He and Lucy worked in silence until lunch, at which point the elder of the two scientists rose to his feet and left, declaring he would be back soon and to keep working.

Lucy wasn't quite hungry yet so she neglected her lunch and continued with the paperwork balanced on her clipboard until 1:16 that afternoon. She really only remembered the time because she had been checking her watch when the lab door slid open and in wrestled three men.

Despite the struggle, it was clear that two of the men were holding the third stretched between them. Lucy quickly recognized one of the standing two as Richard, a coworker with whom she had eaten lunch on a few occasions. The other appeared to be an Abstergo employed guard whom she did not recognize, while the third could have been anyone. A black cloth bag hung over his head and he thrashed and kicked and screamed, trying to break free from his captors.

"Richard!" Lucy leapt to her feet, tossing the clipboard behind her. "What happened?"

"This—" Richard grunted, yanking on the man's arm, "—is the new test subject."

"Test subject? Oh, _FUCK_ no!" roared the man. "Let me go, you bastards!" He fought harder, jerking and twisting himself in any way he could.

"The sedative we used wore off a little early," Richard explained, his sentence broken up by grunts of frustration as he struggled with the subject. "And he woke up on the way here."

Lucy was frozen where she stood, completely confused. They weren't supposed to have another test subject for at least a week. She knew they had located one but they hadn't even found a name for him yet, so how could they have gotten him? She shook her head and returned her attention to the situation at hand. "Do you know his name?" She called, wrenching open a drawer beneath the computer on the Animus to look for something.

"He won't—OOF!" Richard groaned and collapsed backwards from sharp blow to his ribcage from the test subject. The latter managed to get his feet under him and threw his elbow into the guard's face. Both Abstergo employees collapsed as their captive tossed his head forward and sent the black fabric bag sliding across the floor. The man looked like a startled stray cornered by animal control. His dark brown hair curled about wildly as he scanned the room for an exit before his eyes found Lucy. The first thing the young woman noticed was how bright the grey of his irises despite the poor lighting and panicked situation. She expected rage or some sort of vicious blood lust behind them but only saw fear, pure and unadulterated terror.

For one moment, their eyes met and Lucy's hand wrapped around the tranquilizer syringe.

Slowly, so as not to startle the man into attacking, Lucy stepped around the Animus. She raised her free hand in a steadying gesture and hid the needle behind her back. She watched him closely, barely daring to blink as he swayed lightly on his feet. His eyes seemed to blur and he shook his head. The first sedative hadn't worn off completely, Lucy realized as she watched him try to step forward only to stagger backwards much like a bear hit with a tranquilizing dart she had seen on a nature program a year or so before.

"What's your name?" Lucy's voice was calm and steady despite how hard and fast her heart was pounding. She took a tentative step forward and he stumbled backwards again.

"Why should I tell you?" He growled, eyes darting about the lab; the windows, the two crumpled Abstergo men, the closed doors and then back to Lucy. She followed his gaze, growing slightly nervous that neither of her coworkers would be able to help her now.

"You don't have to," she shook her head and turned her attention back to the subject. "I'm Lucy," she added, placing her free hand on her chest.

"Lucy," he repeated, still staggering backwards.

"Sir, I need you to try and relax, okay? No one is going to hurt you." Lucy did not enjoy lying but honestly the only one in the room still capable of hurting him had no intention to. She needed him too much, or rather, _they _needed him too much.

"You people _kidnapped_ me," his voice was beginning to shake, betraying how scared he truly was at this point. He lifted both of his arms in front of himself defensively and judging by the two men on the ground, Lucy guessed he at least knew how to protect himself. "Why should I trust _anything_ you say?"

"I know you're scared, but just—"

"Let. Me. GO!" The subject bolted forward, sprinting straight towards her. Lucy moved quickly, dodging under the arm he swung and struck. The needle went straight into his leg and she rammed the plunger as hard as she could before leaping back. Almost instantly, Lucy regretted this decision. She watched as his expression shifted from rage to exhaustion to real, genuine fear and guilt gnawed at her stomach as he collapsed forward onto her.

Lucy yelped and fumbled with his large body. Despite how lanky he had first appeared, there was apparently quite a bit of muscle beneath his baggy clothing and he was proving more than she could hold. Her knees began to buckle and her heels slid against the linoleum as she tried to keep them both upright.

"RICHARD!" She shouted, pushing against the test subject with all her might. Her compatriot had just begun to get to his feet when she yelled and he came rushing to her aid. He seized the other man's collar and heaved him off of Lucy, much to her relief.

"Grab his feet," Richard grunted, hooking his arms under the subject's. He too seemed a bit surprised by the man's bulk but Lucy obliged, wrapping her arms under his knees to help.

"What happened?" She asked, raising her shoulders to take the strain off her back. "We had hadn't locked down his routine two days ago. We don't even know his name!"

"James and I were on a stake-out by his apartment last night," explained Richard, starting them towards the bedroom feeding off of the lab. "When he came home, he saw us and bolted." The agent cursed under his breath, not having been prepared to lug a six-foot-tall man today. They reached the chamber door and he jerked his head towards the keypad to remind Lucy that he didn't know the code. "This guy put James in the hospital."

"Is he alright?" Lucy adjusted her hold on the body and punched in the door key as quickly as she could.

"James? He'll be okay." The two Abstergo employees shuffled into the bedroom with Richard in the lead. "He cracked a few ribs when this jackass shoved him into a row of trashcans."

"Ouch," Lucy frowned sympathetically, maneuvering herself into the small apartment. Carefully, so as not to bump themselves or the subject, she and Richard lined themselves up parallel to the bed with the former by the foot

"On three?" Richard suggested, mimicking swinging the unconscious man onto the bed. Lucy nodded. "One, two, three!"

Together they lifted him backwards then forwards, and once they had gained the proper momentum, tossed the subject onto the bed with a light _thunk._ While his head missed the pillow and his left foot dangled off the edge, they decided it was a job well done and returned to the lab.

"How long will that sedative last?" asked Richard as he dusted his hands together.

Lucy shrugged. "Only a few hours. He might be up before we leave tonight but I wouldn't count on it." She released a heavy sigh and looked back at the Animus. "Have you told Warren about him?"

Richard was on his way back to help the security guard off the floor and Lucy saw him grimace at the sight of all the blood around him. "We just got here a little while ago," he called back, offering a hand to the man who had helped him. "Where is he, anyway?"

"I don't know. He left for lunch a little while ago and hasn't been back yet. He'll be excited." Lucy trailed off, realizing she was going to have to tell him to postpone his plans until the morning.

"Well, I've got paperwork to fill out and a broken nose to attend to. See you later, Luce." Richard tossed her a wink and she smiled.

Once the two men had exited the lab, Lucy turned on her heel to look at the Animus. They hadn't used it since Subject 15's troubles with her baby. She'd checked it every single day to ensure it would still run smoothly, but putting another body into that machine made her somehow nervous. An anxious bubble in the pit of her stomach caused her to frown. She knew she couldn't talk Warren (or the higher ups, for that matter) out of the Animus project, and was exceptionally glad to see her design up and running successfully but it needed a lot of work before she'd be comfortable with anyone staying in it for any stretch of time.

With a low sigh, she walked towards the machine. Everything else had to be back burnered now. She'd thought she'd had a week to get everything up and running and had taken her time but there _was_ no time now. She began to pick things up off the Animus surface, namely her bag, an empty coffee cup from the morning, and a stack of files she needed to go through tonight and set them off to the side on one of the chairs beside the machine. She'd often wished for her own desk in the lab but knew it would be a fruitless effort.

Trying not to drag her feet, Lucy returned to the Animus's computer and powered it on. She was halfway through composing an incident report on the new subject when the door to the lab slipped open again.

Warren Vidic was not a particularly happy man. Dark and exceptionally conceited, his humor in life usually came from the suffering of other, lesser people than himself. Should he be frowning, it was business as usual, but were he smiling, then things were getting dangerous. The only time Lucy had ever seen her superior in a good mood was when he got what he wanted and as he entered the lab that afternoon, he was positively gleeful.

"Good afternoon, Miss Stillman," he called across the lab, swirling his coffee cup in one hand.

"Good afternoon, Warren." She nodded to him and managed a smile despite how uncomfortable she felt. Seeing him like this just put her on edge. "I see you've heard the news?"

"News? News?" He repeated the word, letting it roll off his tongue as he approached her. He was soaking up this victory. "What news could that be? That we have our new test subject nearly a week ahead of schedule?"

Lucy fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Of course."

"Then I had heard." A smug grin creased Vidic's face and he turned to walk to his desk. He set the coffee cup down and made about preparing himself. Lucy couldn't quite tell from the echo, but it almost sounded as if he were humming. "Hopefully he will react more favorably with the machine than his predecessors," he called over to her before tossing his lab coat back and sticking his hands into his trouser pockets. "Where is he?

"Passed out on the bed," Lucy said carefully, watching Vidic out of the corner of her eye. "He came out of sedation before Richard and James got him here so I had to give him another dose." Her voice shrank slightly as she realized that she felt like she was telling a child he could not play with the toy he had just been giving, except that the child could fire her. "I don't believe we'll be able to start testing today, Sir."

She saw him grow tense and kept her gaze to the computer screen. Warren's hands retracted from his pockets and he laced them behind his back before turning away from Lucy.

"And _why_ did you sedate him?"

"He had knocked out both of his escorts and came running at me. I had no choice." She tried not to sound defensive but was unsure how well she had done. She lined her hands up on the Animus keyboard once more and began to clatter away, anything to look busy.

Vidic turned back towards her and stepped closer. "How long will the sedative take to wear off?" His voice was low and a bit too close for Lucy's comfort.

"At the very least… Six, maybe seven hours." Lucy's eyes darted to the clock on the wall.

1:57 PM.

Warren sneered before stepping back from her and returning to his desk. Lucy swallowed a sigh, reminding herself that if she hadn't sedated the man now lying in the other room then any number of terrible things could have happened to her, the subject or the Animus.

"I suppose we'll have to start in the morning then," Vidic hissed and dropped into his desk chair.

They worked in silence until five, at which point Vidic rose from his desk, gave Lucy a curt 'good evening' and dismissed himself. She, however, remained where she stood, watching the progress bar on the computer screen count down until the Animus was fully updated and operational.

Lucy's mind had been reeling all day. The subjects never came to them like this. There was no fighting or screaming (at least not until they were safely in the building), they all came in unconscious. They were wheeled in on a stretcher and essentially tossed straight into the animus. They'd fight back and try to reject the program until their curiosity won over or Vidic lost his patience. Then, once Abstergo had what it needed from these individuals, they were free to go upon signing a confidentiality agreement.

A sigh escaped her lips and Lucy's eyes wandered over to the door that lead from the lab to the bedroom. They hadn't heard anything from the subject since his grand entrance and a twinge of curiosity was beginning to pull her to check on him.

He was still unconscious, she told herself, tapping her finger absentmindedly against the Animus. It wasn't like he was going to leap off the bed and attack her. Besides, she had nothing else to do. The Animus was in the midst of an update, what could it hurt?

She stepped around the machine slowly, letting her hand drag along it. She was looking for an excuse to go in there, as if something would leap out and tell her that she should walk into the chamber and not worry about it.

The texture beneath Lucy's fingers changed suddenly, jarring her slightly. Cold metal turned to something warm and slightly rougher. She looked down at her hand and frowned. A manila folder was set against the corner of the Animus with the words SUBJECT INFORMATION typed along the tab. Lucy flipped it open and a small smile spread across her face.

Inside were the forms regarding the subject's personal information. They all started out blank and were usually filled through physical research done by the reconnaissance teams, but since they had followed the new one for so little time, they knew almost nothing about him.

Lucy flicked the folder closed and picked it up before snatching a pen off the top of her keyboard and starting to the bedroom door. Her mind set, she punched in the access code and the door slid open. Her stomach flipped as the sudden thought that the subject might have simply kept quiet to lure one of them in occurred to her. She braced herself for the impact of a fully-grown man running into her and was met with nothing.

Holding her breath, Lucy took one step into the makeshift apartment and looked around. The test subject was sprawled out on the bed exactly where she and Richard had left him. She exhaled calmly and walked the rest of the way in.

Behind her, the door slid closed again but she did not bat an eye. She knew the code to get out so it wouldn't be a problem. Lucy pulled out the chair from the desk to her right and took a seat. She opened the folder once more, removed the cap from the pen and began to read. The top line was for the subject's name but as none of them knew it at present, she moved along to the next section.

SEX: _Male_

DOB: _Late Twenties_

HEIGHT: _6'2"_

WEIGHT:

Lucy paused, pondering for a moment. She had to admit to herself that she was guessing at most of this but she did have a frame of reference for his weight and height. He stood an inch or two taller than Richard, who she knew was six foot even and had supported the man's full weight for a moment. She frowned and wrote down ~_180lbs _and moved on.

HAIR: _Brown_

EYES: _Grey_

OUTSTANDING FEATURES (SCARS, PIERCINGS, TATTOOS, ETC):

Again, Lucy stopped and took a look back at the man behind her. Despite the early summer heat, he wore a pair of baggy old jeans and what looked to be an old leather jacket. They had picked him up at night though, Lucy reminded herself. She tapped her thumb against her pen for a moment before rising to her feet and walking over to the bed.

Carefully, so as not to potentially jar him awake should he only be asleep, Lucy slowly unbuttoned the jacket. An equally worn T-shirt lay against his body, stretched, faded and thin enough to reassure her that her weight guess fit him. She pulled the jacket off his shoulders and scolded herself for blushing as she lifted his shirt to examine his torso.

No tattoos, but there was a scar above his pelvis on the right side that suggested an appendectomy or another tame surgery. Lucy lowered his shirt back down and fixed the jacket before gingerly lifting his left hand and pushing the sleeve up to examine his arm. She kept two fingers to his wrist to monitor is pulse as she turned his arm over (again, just to be safe). Satisfied that there were no identifying marks, she straightened the sleeve and repeated the process on his other arm.

Aside from the scar on his abdomen, there appeared to be nothing extraordinary about the man. Lucy returned to the desk and jotted down her findings before something occurred to her. She turned and looked at the subject's legs before quickly deciding to spare the man his dignity and leave any other identifying marks a secret.

Satisfied with her discoveries, Lucy clicked the cap back on the pen and tucked it behind her ear. She was about to close the folder and leave the room when she looked back at the subject one more time.

They had tossed him on the bed like a disregarded doll, just another piece of meat to be fed through the Animus. His leg still hung off the side and his head still lolled to the side of the pillow. Guilt tugged at Lucy's stomach and she released a disenchanted groan.

The subject's shoes came off rather easily and were set together at the side of the bed. Next, she carefully pulled his legs together to ensure that neither of them lost any blood flow while he was out. She felt a bit silly, but as she walked to the head of the bed, she told herself it was just like taking care of a sick friend.

_Whose name you don't even know_, she scoffed at herself.

Lucy stooped and slid her hand behind the subject's head. Slightly surprised by how soft his hair was, she paused to feel it before lifting his head onto the center of the pillow. She stepped back to admire her work and considered getting him under the blanket (the lab was cold enough on its own without nighttime) before realizing that she could barely hold him up, let alone move him on her own.

That would have to do, she decided, planting her hands on her hips. He looked rather peaceful, really. His brow was relaxed and his mouth hung slightly open, a small glisten of saliva at the corner of his lips made Lucy smile. She chose to disregard the small drool stain beside where his head had been and decided that he was comfortable, or at least as comfortable as he could be, given the situation.

Lucy took a deep breath, grabbed the folder from the desk and slipped it under her arm as she walked to the door. She entered the key code and walked back to the lab. As the door closed again behind her, she whispered,

"Good night, Subject 16."

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><p><strong>AN: Honest to god, this is just a transcript of my headcanon for Subject 16's time at Abstergo. I don't really have much to say about this chapter (mainly because at this time, I had most of chapter 2 hand written in my notebook which is now lost somewhere in the continental US, thank you airlines), but I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are ALWAYS welcome and please feel free to point out any errors in spelling or grammar I may have missed in my editing. Thanks!<strong>


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